Clothes Iron Comprising a Device for Spraying Droplets of Liquid Outside the Surface Covered by the Sole Plate

ABSTRACT

A clothes iron comprising a heated sole plate and a spray device for spraying water droplets of liquid on to a spray zone situated outside the surface covered by the sole plate wherein the clothes iron comprises applicator means extending outside the sole plate, wherein said applicator means comes into contact with the water droplets sprayed on the clothes to be ironed by said spray device before the sole plate reaches the spray zone while the clothes iron, resting on the sole plate thereof, is moved in translation toward the spray zone.

The present invention relates to a clothes iron comprising a heated sole plate and a spray device for spraying droplets of liquid, such as water, outside the surface covered by the sole plate.

European Patent 1 327 021 discloses a clothes iron comprising a heated sole plate and a spray device for spraying droplets of water outside the surface covered by the sole plate, wherein the spray device consists of nozzles supplied with water by an electrical pump operated and controlled by a button that can be activated by the user.

Such an iron has the advantage of enabling a smoothing of wrinkles in clothes without the use of a vaporization chamber that is complex and costly in energy; the user presses the button to moisten the clothes on the perimeter of the sole plate, then releases the button in order to dry the moist zones of the clothes with the heated sole plate of the iron.

However, such an iron has the disadvantage of projecting microdroplets of water onto the clothes which take time to penetrate into the fabric in such a way that these microdroplets initially remain on the surface of the clothes. Thus, if the heated sole plate of the iron reaches the spray zone before the microdroplets of water have had time to penetrate into the fabric, the microdroplets will be vaporized instantaneously upon contact with the edge of the sole plate without the fabric being properly moistened. Therefore, the penetration of the water droplets into the clothes is an important criterion in enabling the relaxation of the fiber and facilitating the smoothing of wrinkles.

A known solution for remedying this disadvantage consists of increasing the flow to increase the concentration of droplets, which enables quicker penetration into the fibers of the fabric. However, such a solution has the disadvantage of moistening the fabric too much, particularly when the clothes iron is moved slowly on the clothes resulting in a significant risk that the clothes are not sufficiently dried in one pass of the sole plate of the clothes iron over the moistened zone.

An object of the present invention is therefore to propose a clothes iron comprising a device for spraying a liquid on a spray zone located on the periphery of the sole plate and means facilitating the moistening of the fabric in order to obtain greater efficiency in ironing, with a low flow of liquid.

To this end, the invention has as an object a clothes iron comprising a heated sole plate and a spray device for spraying droplets of liquid on a spray zone P located outside the surface covered by the sole plate, characterized in that it comprises applicator means extending outside the sole plate and coming into contact with the droplets sprayed on the clothes to be ironed by said spray device to cause it [sic] to penetrate into the clothes before the sole plate reaches the spray zone P when the clothes iron, while resting on its sole plate, is moved in translation toward the spray zone P.

Such applicator means have the advantage of squashing the droplets of liquid placed on the surface of the clothes in order to cause them to penetrate into the clothes before the sole plate reaches the spray zone P.

According to another characteristic of the invention, the applicator means comprise a scraping element extending along the periphery of the sole plate.

According to still another characteristic of the invention, the scraping element extends between the sole plate and the spray zone P.

According to another characteristic of the invention, the scraping element has a shape that follows the shape of the edge of the sole plate.

According to another characteristic of the invention, the scraping element and the edge of the sole plate are separated by a gap.

Such a characteristic enables the creation of a layer of air between the scraping element and the edge of the sole plate which contributes to the creation of a thermal insulation between these two elements.

According to still another characteristic of the invention, the heated sole plate has a front point where two lateral edges of the sole plate meet and the scraping element extends beyond the front point and along the lateral edges of the sole plate.

According to another characteristic of the invention, the scraping element consists of a rigid wire.

According to another characteristic of the invention, the scraping element is held by elastically deformable lugs; the scraping element extends below the level of the sole plate when it is not subjected to a mechanical load and is brought back into the plane of the sole plate, through the deformation of the lugs, when the clothes iron rests on its sole plate.

According to another characteristic of the invention, the scraping element is made of a hydrophobic material with a low heat capacity.

According to still another characteristic of the invention, the spray device comprises an atomizer, such as a piezoelectric atomizer.

According to still another characteristic of the invention, the clothes iron comprises a vaporization chamber that is sized to produce a maximum flow of steam of approximately 20 g/min.

The objects, appearance and advantages of the present invention will be better understood based on the description given hereafter of two particular embodiments of the invention, which are presented as non-limiting examples, with reference to the attached drawings, wherein:

FIGS. 1 and 2 are perspective views of a clothes iron according to a particular embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the iron in FIG. 1;

FIGS. 4 and 5 are perspective views of a clothes iron according to a second particular embodiment of the invention;

Only the elements necessary for understanding the invention are shown. To facilitate the reading of the drawings, the same elements bear the same references from one figure to another.

FIG. 1 shows a steam clothes iron 1 comprising a sole plate 2 provided with steam discharge holes 20 and comprising a heel 3 on which the clothes iron may rest vertically during inactive phases of ironing; the heel 3 is equipped with a connector (not shown in the figures) that enables the clothes iron to be connected electrically to a charging station.

In a manner known per se, the sole plate 2 is in thermal contact with a heating element (not shown in the figures) that contains an electrical resistor with a power of approximately 1600 W and comprises a vaporization chamber sized to produce a flow of steam of approximately 20 g/min; the temperature of the sole plate 2 is controlled by a thermostat, the set temperature of which may be changed by the user by means of an adjustment knob 5.

The heating element is covered by a body 4 made of plastic with an integrated grip handle 40; the body 4 encloses a water reservoir supplying the vaporization chamber through a drop-by-drop valve.

According to FIG. 2, the sole plate 2 comprises a pointed front tip and the body 4 of the iron holds a spray device that consists of two atomizers 6 arranged on the front of the iron, on both sides of its longitudinal axis; the atomizers 6 produce microdroplets measuring approximately 40 to 50 μm in diameter, enabling the moistening of a spray zone P located in front of the front point of the sole plate. These atomizers 6 are preferably piezoelectric-type atomizers that use a technology known per se, as described for example in U.S. Pat. No. 4,533,082; each atomizer 6 is supplied by the water reservoir that is integrated in the body of the iron 1.

The iron comprises a control button 7 that is preferably located in front of the grip handle 40 and enables control of the operation of the atomizers 6 in order to spray the liquid on the spray zone P located in front of the front point of the sole plate 2.

More particularly according to the invention, the clothes iron 1 comprises applicator means 8 that extend outside the heated sole plate 2; the purpose of said applicator means 8 is to cause the mechanical penetration of the droplets of liquid into the clothes to be ironed before the heated sole plate 2 reaches the spray zone P moistened by the spray released by the atomizers 6.

In the particular example of embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the applicator means consist of a rigid scraping wire 8 that extends along the periphery of the sole plate 2 at a distance of approximately 3 mm from the edge of said sole plate 2 in such a way that a gap results between the edge of the sole plate 2 and the scraping wire 8, ensuring thermal insulation; the scraping wire 8 follows the shape of the front point and the lateral edges of the sole plate 2.

The scraping wire 8 preferably has a low thermal inertia or a low heat capacity so that the droplets of liquid that make contact with it evaporate as little as possible if the scraping wire has reached a temperature above 100° C.

For example, the scraping wire 8 is made of stainless steel or a plastic, such as polyamide, and has a diameter of approximately 4 mm; the scraping wire 8 is supported by elastically deformable lugs 80 attached to the body 4 of the clothes iron ensuring that the scraping wire 8 is held flexibly along the periphery of the sole plate 2.

As can be seen in FIG. 1, the lugs 80 hold the scraping wire 8 in a plane extending below the level of the sole plate 2 when the clothes iron is not resting on its sole plate 2, that is, when no mechanical load is applied to the scraping wire 8; the lugs 80 are sized to deform elastically under the pressure exerted by the weight of the clothes iron 1 in such a way that the scraping wire 8 essentially lies in the plane of the sole plate 2, exerting a slight pressure on the fabric to be ironed, when the sole plate 2 of the iron rests horizontally on the clothes to be ironed.

This embodiment of the clothes iron has the advantage of providing great ironing efficiency; the spray device 6 enables the user to spray microdroplets of water on a spray zone P located in front of the front point of the sole plate and the scraping wire 8, enabling the pressing of the microdroplets of water against the surface of the fabric to be ironed in order to cause them to penetrate into the upper layer of the fabric before the hot sole plate of the iron makes contact with the moistened zone.

Such a clothes iron provided with a vaporization chamber that has a low flow of approximately 20 g/min has the advantage of enabling ironing work with good efficiency without consuming energy excessively. In particular, when the user encounters a fabric that is more difficult to iron or wishes to iron a particular zone of an article of clothing for which a steam flow of 20 g/min is insufficient to obtain good ironing efficiency, he merely has to actuate the spray device control button to moisten the fabric by means of atomizers to obtain good moistening of the clothes through the presence of the scraping element on the border of the sole plate.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show a second embodiment of the invention wherein the applicator means consist of a thermally inert rim 9 made of, for example, a PFA (Perfluoroalkoxy)-type thermoplastic material, attached directly to the perimeter of the sole plate 2; the other characteristics of the clothes iron remain unchanged in relation to the clothes iron described in the first embodiment.

This rim 9 comprises a body with a cylindrical shape and is attached in such a way that the lower edge of the rim 9 crosses the plane of the sole plate 2. In this way, the rim 9 rubs on the clothes on the border of the sole plate 2 during the active phases of ironing and helps ensure the penetration of the microdroplets of water through the fabric before the iron's hot sole plate 2 reaches the spray zone P, just as the scraping wire 8 did in the first embodiment.

Therefore the microdroplets do not remain on the surface of the fabric and are not vaporized when they make contact with the edge of the sole plate without having penetrated into the clothes to be ironed.

Obviously, the invention is in no way limited to the embodiments described and shown herein, which were provided solely for the purpose of example. Modifications are possible, particularly in terms of the constitution of the various elements or by substituting equivalent techniques, without in any way exceeding the scope of protection of the invention.

Therefore, in an alternative embodiment that is not shown, the iron's spray device could consist of a spray nozzle supplied by a mechanical or electrical pump.

Therefore, in an alternative embodiment that is not shown, the iron could be permanently connected to the electricity grid by means of an electrical cord. Therefore, in an alternative embodiment that is not shown, the scraping element could run the entire perimeter of the sole plate. 

1. Clothes iron (1) comprising a heated sole plate (2) and a spray device (6) for spraying droplets of liquid on a spray zone (P) located outside the surface covered by the sole plate (2), characterized in that it comprises applicator means (8, 9) extending outside the sole plate (2) and coming into contact with the droplets sprayed on the clothes to be ironed by said spray device (6) to cause them to penetrate into the clothes before the sole plate (2) reaches the spray zone (P) when the clothes iron (1), while resting on its sole plate (2), is moved in translation toward the spray zone (P).
 2. Clothes iron (1) as in claim 1, characterized in that said applicator means comprise a scraping element (8; 9) that extends to the periphery of the sole plate (2).
 3. Clothes iron (1) as in claim 2, characterized in that said scraping element (8; 9) extends between the sole plate (2) and the spray zone (P).
 4. Clothes iron (1) as in any of claims 2 to 3, characterized in that said scraping element (8; 9) has a shape that follows the shape of the edge of the sole plate (2).
 5. Clothes iron as in claim 4, characterized in that said scraping element (8; 9) and the edge of the sole plate (2) are separated by a gap.
 6. Clothes iron (1) as in claim 5, characterized in that said heated sole plate (2) has a front point where two lateral edges of the sole plate (2) meet and that said scraping element (8; 9) extends in front of said front point and along the lateral edges of the sole plate (2).
 7. Clothes iron (1) as in any of claims 2 to 6, characterized in that said scraping element (8) consists of a rigid wire.
 8. Clothes iron (1) as in any of claims 2 to 7, characterized in that said scraping element (8) is held by elastically deformable lugs (80), wherein said scraping element (8) extends below the level of the sole plate (2) when the clothes iron (1) when the scraping element (8) [sic] is not subjected to a mechanical load and is brought back into the plane of the sole plate (2), through the deformation of the lugs (80), when the clothes iron (1) rests on its sole plate (2).
 9. Clothes iron as in any of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that said spray device comprises an atomizer (6), such as a piezoelectric atomizer.
 10. Clothes iron as in any of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the clothes iron (1) comprises a vaporization chamber sized to produce a maximum flow of steam of approximately 20 g/min. 